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America’s wild horses from the Palomino Valley and Fallon holding facilities in Nevada did not get their fair share of exposure for adoption on the internet because they were listed late. Therefore they should not be given a strike because they were not picked. It’s not their fault.

We ask that the Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) do the right thing and wipe off the strike these wild horses received for not being adopted in the last round online.

America’s mustangs in the adoption program should go to good homes or sanctuaries if they cannot be returned to the land where they belong.

Contact your elected officials and ask them to intervene to stop these beautiful wild horses from the unfair 3-Strikes practice that puts them at risk. After 3-Strikes, federally protected American wild horses lose their protections and legally can be sold for $25. People sell 3-Strikes wild horses to “horse-traders” who sell to kill buyers selling to slaughter.

Contact us if you need help adopting wild horses and navigating the BoLM’s red tape, problem solving when problems arise, etc. Email us directly at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org Let’s get the wild horses to safety! Together we can turn this around.

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

Government: People who want the formerly wild animals are supposed to wait a year to get title before they can be sold. But enforcement is lax and many end up slaughtered.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal program to protect wild horses and burros has lost track of more than 32,000 animals placed in adoption, allowing people to neglect, abuse and even slaughter some of them for profit.

In addition, officials of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management may have falsified records to cover up the problem and ignored warnings that thousands of adopters have not been checked and have not received titles to their animals, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

“Records are systematically falsified and no one wants to know about it,” said Reed Smith, a former BLM administrator who retired from the New Mexico office in 1995.

In 1971, Congress enacted a law to protect wild horses and burros and place excess animals for adoption. In 1978, to better prevent their slaughter or sale, it created a system of legal titles: The adopter would keep each animal for one year, comply with a health check, then get title.

Until the title is issued, the animal would remain government property.

Using the BLM’s computerized records maintained in Denver and obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the AP found that 32,774 of all adopted animals–or 20%–remain untitled. Legally, those horses and burros are still federal property.

The adopted horses were given to more than 18,000 different people.

Last month, the AP reported that the $16-million-a-year program has allowed thousands of titled wild horses and burros to be slaughtered. The investigation found that BLM employees are among those profiting from the slaughter.

In response to the first report, Wild Horse and Burro Program chief Thomas Pogacnik wrote: “Once title is issued, the animal is private property.”

Under the 1971 law, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is mandated by Congress to protect wild horses and burros on public lands. Babbitt refused to comment for this story.

BLM officials say they rely on spot checks to trace horses that remain untitled. But Larry Woodard, the former state director of New Mexico’s BLM office, called spot checks inadequate.

“One out of every five animals adopted by the bureau never being titled would indicate that the titling aspect of the adoption program has not been a subject of intense concern,” Woodard wrote in a 1993 memo.

A U.S. Justice Department memo from April 1996 indicated that the BLM is not carefully screening adopters because the agency does not want to know what happens to the animals.

“The Adopt-a-Horse program is seriously flawed. . . . BLM has an unstated policy of not looking too closely at proposed adoptions,” wrote Charles Brooks, a Justice Department attorney who had been assisting the U.S. attorney’s office in Texas with an investigation of the program. “The agency’s approach to this was its version of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’ ”

A March 27, 1995, internal memo from that investigation quotes BLM law enforcement agent John Brenna as saying that Lili Thomas, a BLM official, made “a tacit admission of backdating documents used in the Wild Horse and Burro Program.”

“Her additional comments were that she did not know if this was illegal or not,” Brenna wrote.

Thomas did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment. Brenna refused to comment.

In the 25 years since the law’s passage, the BLM has gathered 165,635 animals in 10 Western states deemed “excess” and given most of them to adopters for $125 each. About 40,000 horses and burros remain in the wild.

Thomas Sharp, a 43-year-old wheat and alfalfa farmer, sits in a West Texas penitentiary, the only person in the country in federal prison for selling untitled horses.

He says he couldn’t afford to feed the animals and didn’t bother to send in a form requesting title. “They got me on a signature, but they got me, that’s for sure,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Hank Hockeimer of Oklahoma said he hoped Sharp’s four-month sentence would set an example.

“Our purpose for prosecuting this case was to send a message that under this program you can’t ostensibly adopt these horses and then sell them before you have title,” he said.

The AP contacted 20 adopters of untitled horses last week, but only two still had their animals. One said his horse died, another gave his away and the rest said they had sold their untitled horses, mostly at livestock auctions.

Wild horses sold at auction almost all eventually end up slaughtered, according to the operators of North American horse slaughterhouses.

George Varner Sr., who spent 20 years as a “killer buyer” for slaughterhouses, said one or two wild mustangs show up at auction barns each month in central Mississippi alone.

He said the only people willing to bid on the horses are the slaughterhouse buyers. “These horses aren’t good for anything else,” he said.

The AP’s Fred Bayles, Chris Sullivan and Drew Sullivan contributed to this report.

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

With 3-Strikes Eve (#6458) from Warm Springs, Nevada will lose her federal protections because of the Burns Amendment and could end up at slaughter. A horse trader could pick her up to flip her to a kill buyer and BoLM would never know.

Eve has a kind eye and looks like with love and patience she will gentle up well.

BLM says:

Sex: Mare Age: 6 Years Height (in hands): 14

Necktag #: 6458 Date Captured: 12/08/11

Freezemark: 10616458 Signalment Key: HF1AAAABB

Color: Bay Captured: Warm Springs Canyon (NV)

Notes:

Tag-#6458. 6 year old bay mare, was gathered from the Warm Springs Canyon Herd Management Area in Nevada in December of 2011 .

This horse is currently located in Palomino Valley, NV. For more information, please contact Jeb Beck at (775) 475-2222 or e-mail: j1beck@blm.gov

This horse is available for sale or adoption with bids staring at $25.00. At the conclusion of the bidding, the successful bidder will inform the BLM if they are purchasing or adopting the animal. If the animal is purchased, not adopted, the successful bidder receives bill of sale to the animal upon completion of payment and final paperwork. If the animal is adopted, the minimum bid must be $125, and the animal is not eligible for title until the one year anniversary.

Adoption confirmation for this animal must be finalized, by e-mail to BLM_ES_INET_Adoption@blm.gov, no later than Noon Mountain August 4. After this date, all unclaimed animals will be available for in-person walk up adoption/purchase ONLY.

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

Oregon State University published the Q & A below based on the false premise, when the truth is wild horses are underpopulated in America today:

I understand that Oregon State University is involved in research on wild horses and burros. Is this true?

Yes. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) awarded Oregon State University money to help study fertility-control methods for wild horses and burros.

In 2014, the BLM asked for research proposals from a variety of scientific groups across the nation to help address the high population growth rates of wild horses and burros, including veterinarians, scientists, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and other research entities. Additional details can be found here. Since then, the BLM has provided awards to support over 20 projects.

Five universities with college of veterinary medicine programs received awards. Proposals from OSU were selected based on the quality of science, the expertise of the research investigator and the potential impact of the research. Oregon State University faculty were among those that submitted proposals to the BLM to help slow and stabilize the population growth rate of wild horses and burros. The BLM announced its decision on June 27 to proceed with the research to be conducted by Oregon State faculty. Details of that announcement can be found here.

How is Oregon State University involved?

As a research university, Oregon State conducts studies on important topics, and informs public policy-makers and the general public of those research findings.

This research will evaluate minimally invasive, humane, effective, and permanent procedures that would then be reviewed by the BLM as options to maintain sustainable herd levels.

Our role is in conducting research to inform BLM policy. Oregon State University’s role is not to develop policy.

Why did BLM decide that this type of research was necessary?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) developed the program after receiving a report with recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences committee, which had been tasked with performing a complete review of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Management Program.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a video summary of that report, “Using Science to Improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward”.

The NAS reports that the population of wild horses and burros is growing beyond the capacity of federal lands to support the health and welfare of these animals. Animals that are not healthy are susceptible to further suffering from disease, malnutrition, dehydration, and death. The BLM is reviewing a range of options to manage the population of these horses and burros at sustainable levels.

What did the National Academy of Sciences committee find?

The NAS committee emphasized that, on average, the population of wild horses and burros across the west is increasing by 15 – 20% per year, despite ongoing fertility control vaccination programs. The NAS urged the BLM to make wider use of fertility control options that are based on rigorous research.

Why would wild horse and burro populations be a concern?

The population of wild horses and burros on federal lands is growing beyond the capacity of local, state, and federal resources to support the health and welfare of these animals, and maintain healthy range ecosystems.

An illustrated summary of BLM concerns and challenges related to our nation’s wild horses and burros can be found here.

What does Oregon State University have to offer?

OSU faculty who responded to the BLM’s request for additional research felt very strongly that their contributions would benefit and improve the health and welfare of our wild horses and burros.

As a land-grant institution, Oregon State University faculty members often have the expertise needed to address issues that affect Oregon and the nation.

Results from this work will be analyzed and published in peer-reviewed forums, in addition to informing the BLM. In this way, the work performed by OSU faculty will be available to the public.

For more information about how research is conducted at Oregon State University and academic freedom, please click here.

How is animal safety and humane care ensured during research?

University-wide commitment to animal care, safety, and welfare is a top priority. Oregon State University recognizes both the importance of animals in research and teaching, and the scientific and ethical responsibilities inherent in the care of those animals. Research activities undertaken by OSU faculty, staff, and students are reviewed and conducted in accordance with strict ethical principles, federal and state laws and regulations, and in compliance with Oregon State institutional policies.

Oversight of animal activities associated with OSU is provided by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The IACUC’s main functions are to review, approve, and monitor research protocols, and ensure that animals are cared for according to all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and Oregon State institutional policies.

Oregon State University additionally volunteers to have their animal program reviewed every three years by AAALAC, International, an independent accreditation agency for animal research programs. The accreditation process is very stringent and institutions with AAALAC accreditation are known for their commitment to excellence and humane animal care.

What methods are being studied in this research?

One study will evaluate the removal of both ovaries without the need for any external skin incisions (ovariectomy via colpotomy). Ovariectomies are commonly used by veterinarians to stop egg production and related reproductive (“heat”) cycles in animals.

Another study will evaluate two surgical methods that will interrupt fertilization. Animals undergoing these procedures will still have heat cycles but they will not conceive. Tubal ligation is one method, and the other is oviduct ablation. The use of these methods also avoids the need for external skin incisions.

I have concerns about the management of our nation’s wild horses and burros, and I don’t think Oregon State University should be involved.

As a research institution, work at Oregon State sometimes involves controversial issues. In this case, research team members have offered their areas of expertise in designing a study whose results will be used to inform policy decisions by the BLM in the management of wild horse and burro populations.

Research data provided by Oregon State researchers will be part of the larger group of studies that BLM will consider as it reviews policies and procedures to respond to the 2013 NAS report.

More information on BLM management of wild horses and burros can be found here.

Who will perform this research?

The studies will be conducted by teams of licensed, highly qualified and experienced veterinary surgeons.

Are Oregon State students involved in this research?

No. Students are not involved in these projects.

When was this proposal submitted?

Proposals were submitted to the BLM in 2014.

How long will this research take to be completed?

The research will take place over the next two – five years.

How much will be spent on this research? Who will fund this proposed research?

The BLM has approved two grants to OSU totaling $348,000.

Where will this research be conducted?

The research will be conducted at the BLM’s wild horse and burro facility in Hines, OR.

How and with whom will these research findings be shared with?

Oregon State researchers will report their results to the BLM; will publish findings in other peer-reviewed forums and share the results with the public.

Who decides to accept or reject these findings? Or implement them as a standard of future practice?

The BLM will make any decisions on future policies and practices. For more information click here.

Read what the Pro-Slaughter advocates say about wild horses below. They are publishing this in pork industry publications!

Meat of the Matter: Wild and worrisome

By Dan MurphyMay 31, 2016 | 2:25 pm EDT

Time for a brief quiz.

Question 1): How many wild horses and burros are currently roaming across the Western rangelands?

Question 2: How many wild horse and burros are adopted by private citizens each year?

Question 3): Absent “control measures,” how long does it take for the population of wild horses and burros to double in numbers?

Answers: 1). 67,000. 2). 2,500. 3). Four years.

In other words, each year there are thousands more of these feral animals being added to what is already an overpopulation across the semi-arid rangelands of Nevada, California, Utah and several other Western states.

In fact, the Bureau of Land Management announced last week that as of this March, there an estimated 67,000 wild horses and burros in the West public rangelands, which is a 15% increase over the estimated 2015 population.

The updated data are more than twice the number of horses on the range than is recommended under BLM land-use plans. It is also two and a half times the number of horses and burros that were estimated to be in existence when the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed 45 years ago in 1971.

“Over the past seven years we have doubled the amount of funding used for managing our nation’s wild horses and burros,” Neil Kornze, BLM Director, said in a statement. “Despite this, major shifts in the adoption market and the absence of a long-term fertility control drug have driven population levels higher.”

The major shift to which Kornze referred is a dramatic decrease in adoptions of wild horses, due to economics and other factors — ie, the fact that the wild mustangs, in particular, don’t adapt well to life in a stable.

Here’s the problem: The lifetime cost of caring for an unadopted horse removed from the range approaches $50,000 per animal. With 46,000 horses and burros already residing in off-range corrals and pastures, this means that without some way to place these animals with willing owners, BLM will spend more than a billion dollars to care for and feed them over the rest of their lives.

And there are plenty more where the current ones came from.

As The New York Times phrased the situation in a lengthy article two years ago, “There are now twice as many wild horses in the West as federal land managers say the land can sustain. The program that manages them has broken down, and unchecked populations pose a threat to delicate public land, as well as the ranches that rely on it.”

And the situation has only worsened since then.

A question of numbers

Keep in mind that the population of wild horses and burros affects not just agency budgets and wildlife populations, but impacts a significant economic and cultural resource: the grasslands of the West. When deer populations exceed their rural habitats east of the Mississippi, there is property damage and traffic accidents for suburban and rural residents to contend with, but there is far less impact on agriculture.

Not so out West. There simply isn’t carrying capacity for ever-expanding herds of horse and burros, while at the same time maintaining the grazing rights of ranchers and conserving the limited supply of grassland and water resources.

BLM officials are trying to address the challenge on a number of fronts, including:

Sponsoring research on fertility control, which to date is neither effective nor inexpensive

Transitioning horses from off-range corrals to lower cost pastures, which at best may offer modest mitigation of the cost burden

Working to increase adoptions with new programs and partnerships, which won’t even get the populations stabilized at the levels of 10 or 15 years ago, when horse adoptions were far more popular

None of those measures — even in combination — will be enough, however, and so the agency announced in a statement that it would request two new pieces of legislation: One to permit the transfer of horses to other agencies that have a need for work animals; and another that would create a congressionally chartered foundation to help fund and support adoption efforts.

Unfortunately, all the money in the world can’t turn adoption in to a sustainable solution. Wild mustangs and feral burros make lousy pets and equally undesirable work animals. It’s one thing to “domesticate” bison, another “wild” species dependent on rangelands. The time, trouble and expense of keeping them corralled represents an investment recouped by selling the meat and hides, whereas the only reason to keep horses around these days is to ride them, either for pleasure, for racing or for equestrian competition.

Most wild horses are highly unsuited to all of the above.

As is true with any invasive species, the spectrum of control measures starts out with the least intrusive, most humane interventions. But unless such a limited strategy actually works, efforts must be ramped up — all the way to forcible population control.

I’ve yet to hear from any activist with a better solution.

Or one with an extra billion they’d like to donate to the cause.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator. Cross-posted for education and discussion from PorkNetwork

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

The Bureau of Land Management is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for shooting and killing a wild horse in early October 2015 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, near Carson City, Nevada.

The BLM currently manages thousands of wild horses in accordance with the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which gives the agency a mandate to protect and manage the animals. The Northern Nevada Correctional Center/Stewart Conservation Camp Saddle Horse and Burro Training Program is a cooperative partnership between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nevada Department of Corrections-Silver State Industries. Through this training program, wild horses and burros are gentled and trained before being adopted. About 60 wild horses and burros are trained and adopted at the facility each year. Currently, the Northern Nevada Correctional Center horse program houses and maintains approximately 1,500 BLM horses.

Individuals with information about this incident are encouraged to call the BLM crime hotline phone number at: 1-800-521-6501

Retaliation scheme against Protect Mustangs for speaking out against sterilization and slaughter

The pro-slaughter, pro-experiment on pregnant mares, pro-sterilization, pro-pzp advocates are posing as horse advocates in the “Sinister Solutions” group on Facebook. They broadcast the BLM agenda on their Facebook page sprinkled with BLM employees. It’s like an endless biased talk show. They bash and lie about real advocates championing the rights of America’s wild horses and Facebook lets them do it.

Several members of Sinister Solutions started a new group to lead the smear against us, the WY14™ and Protect Mustangs™. They are spreading lies, bashing, bullying and harassing us. They want to hurt the March pasture board fundraiser for the Wyoming 14™ (WY14™) https://www.gofundme.com/MustangPasture3-16 and they want to hurt the wild horses.

The sinister group launched a Facebook page to find the WY14™ in their private location so they would lose their safety. Now their location has been disclosed to many pro-slaughter people. What is the real motive of the group run by BLM supporters?

Several haters and jealous people also joined the Facebook group to be part of the hate-fest. Their goal is to hurt donations for the WY14™ so the orphans of slaughter can’t pay their pasture board for March. They are trying to put them at-risk.

These online bullies are not only hoping for neglect but they are interfering in our program and work. It seems they are also threatening to cause harm. The pro-slaughter, pro-sterilization advocates are plotting to “swoop in to take them”. . . But we aren’t going to let that happen.

We have contacted the authorities. Protect Mustangs has enlisted an armed security guard for an additional $1000. per month after receiving screenshots of the stalkers plotting in the Facebook group. The WY14™ board is $2,500. Security is now $1000. and then GoFundMe/WP takes 10% combined for processing. That makes the total $3,850. per month until we can move them to a new location. I pray that’s very soon so the WY14™ can know peace again. Please donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/MustangPasture3-16

If you are hearing lies about missing horses or anything else, please call me and ask any questions. My number is 415-531-8454. You can also email us at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org All the members of the herd known as the WY14™ (14 + 2 foals) are fine and well cared for on a daily basis. Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, will attest to that. You can read his report here.

You will remember that I spoke about the one mustang who escaped during loading from the layover sanctuary last August. His name is White Socks and he was invited to stay at Dreamcatcher for the winter. The haters and pro-slaughter people have been spreading lies to create hysteria that he was missing when we had already told supporters he was there. They even went as far as to violate copyright laws to harass and bully us. This is vicious, illegal and there’s more to it.

The WY14™ are sad that their peaceful eco-pasture has been ruined by stalkers with telephoto cameras posting smears on Facebook, spewing jealously, hatred and bad energy. The WY14™ were starting to get better after all the trauma from the BLM roundup where everyone over the age of 2 was killed at slaughter for human consumption. Now they are being persecuted again. . .

Keep in mind all this is happening when a few members of the WY14™ are going to contribute foals. These fertility-haters are spying on the pregnant mares, making false claims to animal welfare agencies and then rushing off on Facebook to spread gloom and doom about their pregnancies, calling them “rank”, “inbred”, and “ugly”, etc. This is so wrong.

Right now the WY14™ need your help to share and donate for their March pasture rent. Please help them here: https://www.gofundme.com/MustangPasture3-16 Please share often so others can help donate too. This makes a big difference.

Please keep the WY14™ in your prayers and PRAY we find the land for their permanent Eco-Sanctuary in California ASAP. This is an emergency now!

There is no overpopulation of wild horses. BLM’s harvesting model based management via roundups is disrupting herd dynamics and increasing the birthrate. Even so BLM’s allegations of overpopulation are fraudulent based on false data. They don’t even account for the correct mortality rates in the wild. Predators need to be reintroduced if anything. Wild horses are a return-native species that help reduce catastrophic wildfires and create biodiversity. The BLM is trying to manage America’s wild horses to extinction. The bottom line is America’s federally protected wild horses are underpopulated today. The BLM is creating a false crisis to cash in on wild horses as laboratory animals for fertility control experiments.

The content below is a BLM Press Release and does not reflect the views of Protect Mustangs:

Hines, Ore. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Burns District announces the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Mare Sterilization Research at Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines. In cooperation with Oregon State University, the BLM is proposing to investigate the safety and efficacy of three separate methods of surgical sterilization of wild horse mares: ovariectomy via colpotomy, tubal ligation, and hysteroscopically-guided laser ablation of the oviduct papilla.

A 30-day public comment period on the EA is set for January 5 through February 3, 2016. Comments can be mailed or faxed to the BLM Burns Office at the address below, or submitted by email to: blm_or_bu_mareresearchea@blm.gov. Entire comments – including personal identifying information – may be published as part of the EA and Decision Record process. Copies of the draft EA are available for review at the BLM Burns District Office during regular business hours, or online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office. This link takes you to BLM’s new ePlanning website. To search for the EA and unsigned FONSI you can either use the map to locate Burns District or click on the “Text Search” tab and search by state, document type, year, and program.

The BLM is investing in a diverse portfolio of research projects to develop new, modern technologies and methods for wild horse and burro management.

Research is aimed at finding safe and effective ways to slow the population growth rate and reduce the need to remove animals from public lands. The studies are in response to a 2013 recommendation from the National Academy of

Science to develop new or improve existing population grown suppression methods for wild horses and is in accordance with The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Utah, Wyoming and Oregon have current or upcoming research projects.

For further information about Oregon’s Mare Sterilization Research project or to have your name added to the project mailing list, contact the Project Lead at (541) 573-4400.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.

-BLM

The above is from a BLM Press Release and not reflecting the views of Protect Mustangs. The BLM is trying to manage America’s wild horses to extinction.

The public is outraged that the small Water Canyon herd is being harassed and ruined for an experiment with GonaCon™–paid for with tax dollars. American wild horses are an indigenous species aka “returned-native” as well as being a national treasure. The public loves them.

Protections given to America’s free roaming wild horses and burros–according to the law–must be enforced.

The federally protected Water Canyon herd was underpopulated–with less than 60 wild horses of various ages on the herd management area (HMA). The herd is located on the western side of the vast Antelope Complex in northeastern Nevada, north of Ely.

This herd is already threatened with low genetic viability because the population is so small. American wild horses are not overpopulated on public land and are not “pests”. They should never be experimented on with an EPA restricted-use pesticide, or anything else.

PZP, another EPA restricted-use pesticide, was originally proposed by Nevada RAC member Jeanne Nations for a Water Canyon Pilot Program.

Now, according to your website, Ms. Nations is the Project Coordinator (volunteer) of the GonaCon™ Experiment. How did her previous PZP proposal flip into the GonaCon™ Experiment? Was the public allowed to comment on the proposed GonaCon™ Experiment?

Protect Mustangs is against forcibly drugging wild mares with risky pesticides, used for birth control, such as GonaCon™ (sterilant) or PZP (made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries) because they eventually sterilize the mares, ruin natural selection, negatively effect the herd’s immune system, cause abnormal herd behavior, etc.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) overpopulation claims are fraudulent and any action taken based on fraudulent information is wrongful. There are no “excess” wild horses on public land today. Read more about that here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8551 There are too many herd management areas that currently have no wild horses on them.

Commercial livestock often outnumbers wild horses on public land at more than 50 to 1. Native wild horses must no longer be the scapegoat for range damage.

53 Water Canyon wild horses were trapped last fall for this controversial experiment. Public observation was discouraged. 15 mares were harassed and forcibly drugged with GonaCon™. Then 15 mares along with 7 studs were returned to the Water Canyon federal herd management area (HMA).

Evidently one Water Canyon wild horse has already died during the experiment. Please provide information and photos/video documenting the Water Canyon wild horse who died as a result of this experiment. Have any other wild horses died since then? Will you be killing wild horses as part of the GonaCon Experiment?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has broken up family bands, branded, harassed and permanently removed half of the small herd to forcibly drug and experiment on 15 wild mares with GonaCon™. The BLM has also harassed and endangered wild horses with radio collars who were returned to the range for the experiment. This is outrageous and all paid for with American tax dollars.

Ultimately the BLM plans on spending $11.5 million tax dollars on various experiments on wild horses over the next 5 years. The various experiments are listed here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8657

Adoption

The Water Canyon and other wild horses available for adoption are “wanted” but BLM’s adoption publicity, marketing and interface with the public is failing. If adoption rates are falling in the last decade it’s because BLM is removing more wild horses than they can adopt and doing a poor job at customer service with adopters. BLM’s failing adoption program does not justify experiments of any sort on wild horses and burros. Your adoption program needs an overhaul and the first thing you need to do is fix your rotten customer service.

Protect Mustangs and our members are very interested in the Water Canyon wild horses. We have visited the 11 orphans at the Palomino Valley Center (PVC), outside Reno, several times per week since December 18, 2015. Our members are shocked the weanlings and yearlings each have one strike against them after the failed trap-site adoption on December 5th.

We are is committed to ensuring the 11 Water Canyon orphans (#WC11) will not receive a 2nd or 3rd strike. The 3rd strike would strip away their federal protections according to the Burns Amendment of the Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act (1971). Legally this would allow the BLM to euthanize the youngsters or engage in unlimited sales to kill buyers for slaughter.

We have been regularly evaluating the youngsters, documenting their situation, publicizing the need for them to find good homes in pairs–to get them out of the pen at PVC with no shade or shelter while helping adopters navigate the BLM red tape and BLM’s slow adoption communications.

Did you realize the public wants to adopt the Water Canyon wild horses because they know about them now and like them? As of this writing, all but 2 orphans at PVC have been adopted.

According to an August 2015 BLM news release, “The BLM plans to remove 30-40 excess wild horses and offer them to the public for adoption through its Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.” Where are all the other Water Canyon wild horses who have been permanently removed from their home? How many have been adopted as of today?

Are the other Water Canyon pregnant mares, studs and colts at the Broken Arrow facility in Fallon, Nevada–which is closed to the public? If so we officially request you immediately open the facility for public observation and to promote adoption.

Members of Protect Mustangs would like to view the Water Canyon wild horses, take photographs and video of the wild horses to promote them for adoption. One of our videos had more than 24,000 views in a few days which sparked a huge interest in adopting the Water Canyon wild horses.

The American public wants to adopt and/or purchase the remaining Water Canyon wild horses removed from public land–including the pregnant mares. Those over 10 can be purchased outright through the BLM’s sale program.

The public is outraged the BLM is experimenting on America’s icons of freedom and symbols pioneering spirit of the West.

Protect Mustangs wants to ensure no other wild horses will be used for any kind of experimentation. America’s wild horses are naturally fertile for the species to survive through natural selection. Using federally protected wild horses as lab animals for population control experiments is cruel and unusual treatment and must stop now.

ELY – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering the public the opportunity to adopt a foal gathered from the Water Canyon portion of the Antelope Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada. Nine weanlings and two yearlings are being held together at the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley, north of Reno, Nev.
The horses are available for walk-up adoption from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays. All of the horses have received vaccinations and their bloodwork is completed. Brand inspections will be performed and health certificates issued on all adopted horses.
Pictures of the horses are available online on the BLM’s Flickr album “Water Canyon Foals Available for Adoption” at http://bit.ly/1N85QV1. Applications are available for download (.pdf) at http://on.doi.gov/1A0eAfw.
For more information, contact Jeremy Wilhelm, BLM public contact person, at (775) 475-2222.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.
–BLM–

AbstractContext. Contraception is increasingly used as a management technique to reduce fertility in wildlife populations; however, the feasibility of contraceptive formulations has been limited until recently because they have required multiple treatments to achieve prolonged infertility.

Aims. We tested the efficacy and evaluated potential side effects of two contraceptive formulations, a porcine zona pellucida (PZP) formulation, SpayVac® and a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) formulation GonaCon-B!, in a population of free-roaming feral horses (Equus caballus). Both formulations were developed to provide several years of infertility with one injection.